Atheists, are you introverted or extroverted?

For a long time people that know me have been telling me they think I may suffer from depression and/or anxiety. So much so that I began to believe it. I am still somewhat open to the possibility, but my position on the matter is: so what? I'm not hurting anyone. I'm certainly not going to alter my body chemistry just because it doesn't match what is "normal". Where would evolution have gone if all species could change themselves back to "normal"?

Last night I read this article about shyness, introversion, and social anxiety. It confirmed many of my thoughts on the matter, and got me to research introversion more. Before, I had been aware of the general idea of introversion/extroversion (never studied psychology that much), but I did not know that it could be such a specific and pervasive behavioral trait. After much reading I found that on the introvert/extrovert scale, I'm about as introverted as you could possibly get.

Anyway, in the article the author references Winifred Gallagher: “The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual and artistic achievement." It got me thinking about religion. Are introverts more likely to analyze the inconsistencies and problems with religion before (or even after) committing to one? How many atheists are introverts?

So, do you consider yourself more introverted than extroverted? A poll would be awesome, but I don't see an option to add one.

Replies to This Discussion

I am mostly introverted, most of the time working by myself, with a small network of friends. But once my bile starts to rise, I can come out fighting. Mild mannered with a kind countenance generally,,,;p)

I tend to do both. It just depends on my state of mind. Sometimes I go out in an attempt to be less "I" or stay in to calm my "E".

When i was 19 I worked at a place that had a high volume of patrons. By nature this place was pretty social. I made many friends and acquaintances. I may have talked to each person an average of about a minute though. As an introvert going into the scene and becoming a social butterfly of sorts, allowed for social stimulation and to remain introverted as well.

I figured out that when I was introverted I was actually protecting a number of things as is the same as when I am being more extroverted. I figured out those and use them as a tool for maintenance.

That’s a hard question for me to answer. I live a very quiet, solitary, isolated, cloistered, reclusive lifestlye, often going for weeks having no significant interaction with anybody; and I am very content with it. On the other hand, I get along easily with all kinds of people, and when I do interact with them I am loquacious, friendly, and interested in them, which also makes me happy. Posting on this website gives me the best of both worlds.

I find intro/extro-version to be somewhat of a myth. Few people, if anyone, are very polarized in this regard. Some say the difference is whether you 'recharge' in a crowd or alone. I sure need my social time, but I think that time draws energy from me, psychologically, and I 'recharge' in solitude. To that extent, I'm an introvert, but that doesn't mean I mostly prefer to be alone. I think most people fall into the intro/extro paradigm in the same way - even if they really need some alone time but 'gain their energy' from being in a crowd. Essentially I just think it's more of a spectrum that isn't properly described by the intro/extro paradigm as it is typically defined.

I don't have the patience to read through all of these comments and maybe someone already commented, but I think the fact that this is an Internet forum might skew the sampling to introverts a bit.

For the record I was an introverted child because being born prematurely, I wore leg braces and an eye patch early on for development issues. You would not be able to tell those things from about the age of 13 on. But, I think I was just a frustrated extrovert. Playing music and my profession gave me the opportunity to break out of it. Today, I think I have a healthy balance of the two and am very comfortable just observing the room in social situations until someone asks me my opinion on a topic. I do enjoy in-person debate, usually because the other side is more emotionally attached to their position than I am to mine.

I haven't counted, but by far, people here are saying they are mostly, or are very introverted. 90%, at least.

For myself growing up, being an introvert was similar to having a lot of self-doubt, but now it's more like just being skeptical of most perceptions, internal and external. I really don't know what it's like to be an extrovert, so I'll leave that up to others to describe.

And if you're somewhere in the middle, I think that's probably a nice place to be. But please don't assume that there is no such thing as extremes on the scale, even if the scale isn't perfectly scientific.